Howard Kurtz wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room on his weekly CNN show Reliable Sources Sunday, as he issued an on-air apology to NBA player Jason Collins at the start of the program.After Collins became the ...

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By TV Guide

Smyrna/Clayton Sun-Times

By TV Guide

Posted May. 5, 2013 at 7:00 PM

By TV Guide

Posted May. 5, 2013 at 7:00 PM

Howard Kurtz wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room on his weekly CNN show Reliable Sources Sunday, as he issued an on-air apology to NBA player Jason Collins at the start of the program.

After Collins became the first active male athlete in one in of the four major professional sports to say he's gay last week, Kurtz penned a column for The Daily Beast which alleged that Collins had not divulged that he was previously engaged to a woman.

However, Collins did, in fact, admit early on in the essay he wrote for Sports Illustrated that he had previously dated women and "even got engaged" at one point. Kurtz initially changed the language in the article, but The Daily Beast then retracted it entirely. Finally, editor-in-chief Tina Brownissued a statement last Thursday saying that "The Daily Beast and Howard Kurtz have parted company."

"The mistake I made was sloppy and inexcusable," Kurtz said on Reliable Sources Sunday. "I am truly sorry about what happened ... and I am determined to learn from this episode and minimize the chances of anything like this happening again."

Kurtz also issued a mea culpa for a video he had posted on the website The Daily Download, in which he characterized Collins as having "played both sides of the court" in his sexual relationships. "My tone was completely inappropriate," he acknowledged.

Kurtz also said that he had already been in talks about leaving The Daily Beast, and called his departure an "amicable divorce."